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Toronto Crosstown LRT | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | Arcadis

Considering he is living the urban life (condo near two subway stops) you'd think he'd know better. Pandering for votes does not serve him well.
 
junctionist said:
The Eglinton Connects issue might not lose him that many votes. It'll mostly be a few progressives, cyclists and informed people around Eglinton that will probably not vote for him on this issue. If I owned property near Eglinton, I'm clamour for an overhaul like that on St. Clair which resulted in so much new investment and a noticeable increase in property values. He shouldn't have floated the idea of cancelling the project--it seems reactionary in a Rob Ford circa 2010 manner. We've moved past that.
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Well Cycle Toronto has pointed out that the Fairbank Village and Eglinton Way BIAs have full support of Eglinton Connects, what are the chances they would start speaking up and making a ruckus?
 
howl said:
Quite frankly I was on the fence between Chow and Tory up until yesterday.

My take is that he is pandering to the "screw-the-urbanists" suburban crowd that are planning to still vote for Ford. That particular brand of suburbanites doesn't care about making the city better or even saving money. They only care about having more power than their urban counterparts. It's the somewhat-ironic anti-elitists camp he's trying to win over. There is an American style us-or-them mentality that has crept into the suburban consciences and urbanists are the "them". Tory has just shown that he is not below using American-style divisive political tactics to get himself elected. This is NOT the kind of man you want as a leader.
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I think you've really put it best here, and Tory is making a big mistake in playing the us-or-them card like that. I feel that anyone who truly believes in that kind of politics and drivel will be voting for Ford because Ford is the one who does divisiveness best. Anyone who was going to vote for Tory will either continue to do so, or will be offended by this stupidity and vote for someone else, likely Chow. Of course he won't win any votes from those who wouldn't otherwise vote for him from this. It's a lose-lose-lose, and this election will (I think) pan out like pretty well every other one that Tory has stood for.
 
By densifying Eglinton, we can fight congestion

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/comm...sifying_eglinton_we_can_fight_congestion.html

.....

If we truly want to reduce congestion, and if we truly care about becoming a more sustainable city, increasing housing choice and affordable housing near the places where people work should be at the top of our city-building agenda.

- So when we think about the 19 kilometres of light-rail transit currently under construction on Eglinton Ave., running through the heart of our city, we will miss the mark once again if we treat this investment — and opportunity — as simply a transit infrastructure project, as opposed to a critical city-building initiative.

- Densifying Eglinton through midrise development that provides more opportunities for people to live in the heart of the city with high frequency transit access, and as part of walkable neighbourhoods, is about providing housing choice. And more housing choice along key transit corridors is essential to unlocking the congestion puzzle.

- But, skeptics may wonder — thinking of the noisy, traffic nightmare that Eglinton is today — is this a real choice? A livable choice? A choice for families? Our avenues will only become desirable, linear neighbourhoods if we reconceive them as complete streets where people move in a variety of ways, including as pedestrians on widened sidewalks lined with shops, medical services, daycares and schools, and separated cycle tracks, as they densify.

- Building transit on our existing corridors and leaving them primarily for cars would neglect the opportunity to create these new neighbourhoods, which is as critical to addressing congestion as the transit investment itself. And transit users are pedestrians, so a quality, safe public realm is essential to well-designed LRT.

.....




future_eglinton.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg
 
M II A II R II K said:
By densifying Eglinton, we can fight congestion

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/comm...sifying_eglinton_we_can_fight_congestion.html

.....

If we truly want to reduce congestion, and if we truly care about becoming a more sustainable city, increasing housing choice and affordable housing near the places where people work should be at the top of our city-building agenda.

- So when we think about the 19 kilometres of light-rail transit currently under construction on Eglinton Ave., running through the heart of our city, we will miss the mark once again if we treat this investment — and opportunity — as simply a transit infrastructure project, as opposed to a critical city-building initiative.

- Densifying Eglinton through midrise development that provides more opportunities for people to live in the heart of the city with high frequency transit access, and as part of walkable neighbourhoods, is about providing housing choice. And more housing choice along key transit corridors is essential to unlocking the congestion puzzle.

- But, skeptics may wonder — thinking of the noisy, traffic nightmare that Eglinton is today — is this a real choice? A livable choice? A choice for families? Our avenues will only become desirable, linear neighbourhoods if we reconceive them as complete streets where people move in a variety of ways, including as pedestrians on widened sidewalks lined with shops, medical services, daycares and schools, and separated cycle tracks, as they densify.

- Building transit on our existing corridors and leaving them primarily for cars would neglect the opportunity to create these new neighbourhoods, which is as critical to addressing congestion as the transit investment itself. And transit users are pedestrians, so a quality, safe public realm is essential to well-designed LRT.

.....




future_eglinton.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg
Click to expand...

There are still people (mostly drivers) who still don't see congestion is the cause of increased automobile use. Reduced automobile use, to create a more walkable and transit-oriented neighbourhood, should be the target.
 
W. K. Lis said:
The Queenway right-of-way should be used as grass test beds, to get experience and test which grass species would be best for the Toronto climate.
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I don't see why a test would be needed, it's not like grass is unknown in the city or something. Of course it would stop growing in the winter, but that's no different from every lawn in the city. Salt shouldn't be an issue either; there are countless busy, salted streets in the city with grass medians and boulevards. I get the impression that the issue is cost. A grassed ROW is simply more expensive than concrete or gravel. The question is whether grass is worth the extra cost. It sure does look nice.

BTW, the article mentions Kenosha, Wisconsin as an example of a city with grass LRT lines. Kenosha has a colder winter climate than Toronto, if only slightly.
 
The problem is that too many see congestion as something that only occurs with cars, and that if we want to get rid of "congestion" we need to make it so cars are never in a traffic jam. In reality, its quite different. we have to make it so that people don't have to be stuck in a traffic jam, and that means bike lanes and transit. There will always be vehicular congestion, its impossible to get rid of. We need alternatives to it so that people don't have to sit in traffic, not try to get rid of the traffic itself.
 
junctionist said:
John Tory doesn't see it. He wants to be mayor.
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Tory knows.

You can't fix anything until you get elected. Getting elected sometimes requires promising to keep certain things broken, but at least you can tackle other problems.
 
My problem with Tory is that he's so wishy washy on everything. I heard him make one of the best arguments AGAINST the Scarborough subway (comparing it to an airline operating cost of having jumbo jets going to Timmins) and now flip-flops and being for it. He seems to be easily pressured and very easy to pander to the loudest voice. There is always going to be some of that when dealing with politicians but he seems to have done it as a talk show host and politician much more than others.

For me he's in the same category as Stintz. Could be smart at times, but too inconsistent with his transport ideas.
 
Jumbo Jet planes to timmins is a horrible comparison, the subway will be fairly busy. the reason its so "bad" (its not as bad as people make it out to be either), is that an LRT can handle the capacity as well. (The ridership falls into the area where its busy enough for a subway but also empty enough for LRT)
 
innsertnamehere said:
Jumbo Jet planes to timmins is a horrible comparison, the subway will be fairly busy. the reason its so "bad" (its not as bad as people make it out to be either), is that an LRT can handle the capacity as well. (The ridership falls into the area where its busy enough for a subway but also empty enough for LRT)
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On that thought, I hope all the suburbanites in Scarborough realize that the LRT will create modest growth pressure along the transit corridor while the subway will result in much more growth pressure and very urban-levels of development. If you start flying taxpayer subsidized jumbo jets from Toronto to Timmins on a daily basis then Timmins may become a reasonable place to live or set up a business. Transportation is one of the main drivers of new development.
 
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